Can one sibling force sale of home after parents deceased?

Answer 1

What is the best way to resolve dividing an inherited property between siblings when:

One single (middle "M") sibling is not able to earn much and has physical and mental health issues and currently unhappily underemployed and has in the past been self-limited to part time low paying work. Entire assets consist of the portion of the property--only the 1/3 value of a family home about 150K-160K. This sister would love to have her own place if possible and is afraid of becoming homeless;

Another (oldest "O") sister is not involved but allows that same " challenged," sister to remain in half the house and pay utilities, insurance and tax along with a third (youngest "Y") sister (plus husband and family) who share with sister M in utilities tax and insurance costs. The Y sister and husband have an extreme burden because their children attend school in a different district and need to buy or rent in a neighboring town. Additionally it is not financially wise to share a property as they receive no tax breaks, no way to borrow on the house as is their agreement with the 3 sisters. no equity being built up, house needs work that's costly etc. Therefore it is their wish -after tolerating the situation for twelve years of loss, to separate the title and buy the property, perhaps leasing it out to build equity., and then buying a separate home. Sister O wants her 1/3 of house if bought out or sold. However all three sisters have concern over how the M sister will manage to live independently with the proceeds from the buy out or sale of the house. Sister M wishes to remain in the N.E. LA.. area where $150.K wouldn't be adequate to purchase her own place. $250K would be much better. Sister M has defaulted on two credit card debts several years back and it will take more time to get credit in order. Any ideas? ? ? Mine are only these for which I have little information on. Are there places where sister M can buy at $150K, and therefore not loose money to paying rent? Could sister M invest in an out of town home and rent it out to pay for a rental in N.E. L.A.?

Answer 2

In most cases, once the parents have passed away, the siblings who are the legal owners of the home would need to agree on the sale of the property. If one sibling is pushing for a sale while others are not in agreement, a legal process such as a partition action may be necessary to force the sale. Ultimately, the decision would be guided by the laws of the specific jurisdiction and any stipulations laid out in the parents' will or estate plan.